Free Marcus Katz

Another Howard Chesley page turner with a compelling story and a wonderful, engaging hero. Marcus Katz is an odd young man in his 20s with charm and grit, somewhere “on the spectrum.” One might think he had nothing in common Britney Spears or any celebrity. But Marcus does, in fact, share her dilemma as well as that of countless others unnamed:. He must do desperate battle with a powerful, unwanted conservator seeking to rule his life and drain his resources.

Booker Prize nominee Howard Marc Chesley's new novel is a charming, insightful, moving, funny tale of one young's man movement through a confusing and heartbreaking world, all seen through the reviews he leaves on Yelp. In many respects Marcus' life is quotidian, and in others it's extraordinary. Whether he's at a new-to-him restaurant or in a law office, navigating legal troubles foisted on him by circumstances beyond his control, he reveals his everyday yearnings and his wildest dreams in his miniature reviews. A portrait emerges of a man who wants something more ... and just might get it.

The clever format of creating a book in the form of Yelp reviews for businesses will make the reader think about serious abuses of people with disabilities. Autistic people, elders, and individuals with intellectual disabilities may lose their legal rights when relatives and other people form conservatorships for their own financial gain. The reviews alternate between fun to read descriptions to restaurants and hotels to reviews of law offices and a dingy group home that contains the book's serious message. It opened my eyes to use of the legal system to abuse individuals who are fully capable of making their own decisions.